10/25/01 SP City Council MinutesA SPECIAL MEETING OF THE KALISPELL CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD AT 5:00
P.M. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2001, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY
HALL IN KALISPELL, MONTANA. COUNCIL PRESIDENT DUANE LARSON
PRESIDED. COUNCIL MEMBERS DON COUNSELL, RANDY KENYON, FRED
LEISTIKO, RON VAN NATTA AND CITY MANAGER CHRIS KUKULSKI AND
ACTING CITY ATTORNEY CHARLES HARBALL WERE PRESENT. MAYOR WILLIAM
E. BOHARSKI AND COUNCIL MEMBERS JIM ATKINSON AND DALE HAARR WERE
ABSENT.
President Larson called the meeting to order.
AGENDA APPROVAL
Van Natta moved approval of the agenda. The motion was seconded
by Counsell.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
WARD 4 COUNCIL APPOINTMENT
ward 4 Council member Doug Scarff resigned from the Council on
October 1st because he moved out of the City. Two people are
running for the seat in the November 6th election, Jayson Peters
and write-in candidate Patrick Farris, but according to State
law, the Council must appoint a person to fill the vacancy within
30 days.
Leistiko said the law states the Council will appoint a "person",
within 30 days, which in his opinion means that the Council can't
appoint the winner of the election because it's after the 30 day
time limit. He said the Council needs to either appoint someone
now or leave the seat vacant until January.
Van Natta moved that the Council refrain from filling the seat at
this time and leave it vacant until January. The motion was
seconded by Kenyon.
There was discussion.
Counsell said he feels that if the Council chooses one of the
candidates at this time, it could possibly give that person an
advantage in the election and he thinks the Council shouldn't be
taking any action at this time.
Kenyon agreed, stating it seems unfair and unreasonable to choose
one of the candidates. He said the only downside that he can see
to leaving the seat vacant is the possibility of tie votes, and
he thinks the Council "can live with that."
Kalispell City Council Minutes
Special Meeting - October 25, 2001
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Leistiko asked if anyone is concerned that Ward 4 would only have
one vote on the Council during that period of time.
Larson said having only one person represent the ward during this
GO day period is really no different than having someone absent
due to sickness, etc. He said in order for the Council to be
fair, he feels it's a minor issue.
The motion carried unanimously upon roll call vote.
SENATE BILL 242 JOINT LAWSUIT
Senate Bill 242 requires an election to continue the City's
extraterritorial jurisdiction in enforcing building codes.
Kalispell has been asked to join six other cities in the State to
file a lawsuit challenging the bill.
Van Natta moved that Kalispell enter into the lawsuit with the
six other cities challenging Senate Bill 242. The motion was
seconded by Kenyon.
There was discussion.
Harball said the suit should be filed by next week by a Helena
law firm. He said the legal fees are estimated to be about
$20,000 which will be divided among the cities on a population -
based scale, meaning Billings, Missoula and Bozeman will bear
about eighty percent of the costs.
Leistiko commented he feels it's important to join in the lawsuit
to try and protect the citizenry and the future expansion of the
City.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
CITY MANAGER TRAVEL APPROVAL
As was discussed at the regular meeting October 15th, Kukulski is
asking Council for formal approval of his travel expenses to a
GOSCMA conference earlier this year.
Leistiko moved the Council formally ratify the City Manager's
travel expenses for the GOSCMA conference in Green River,
Wyoming. The motion was seconded by Counsell.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
Kalispell City Council Minutes
Special Meeting - October 25, 2001
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ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 5:35 p.m.
B rsk±l M. Duane Larson
ATTEST:
v
Theresa White
City Clerk
Approved November 5, 2001
Mayor Council President
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Kalispell City Council Minutes
Special Meeting - October 25, 2001
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